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I am proud to have been invited to be the Emcee at an event organized by the CFA Society of Vancouver which will take place next week and is intended to address the importance of closing the gender gap. I will also be moderating a panel at the event on “Success and Significance” with three accomplished panelists, Kim Thompson, Sharon White and Philippa Wilshaw. You can check out the details by following this linkhttp://www.cvent.com/d/F5j0md3j-kCLepRIc6FZyQ/m8xj/P1/1Q? As you can imagine, I am beyond excited!!

I am thrilled (and honoured) to have been invited to be part of this event and would be delighted for you to invite me to do the same!! (Talk about SELF PROMOTION!! – I am shameless!!)

I asked Jane when she considers her career in its entirety whether there is anything she would do differently.

She says: “No. Upon reflection, I’m pretty happy with where I’m at. Maybe in my twenties I would have been a little less blunt. I softened with age, but in my twenties I may have been a little more blunt than may have been beneficial but that’s just part of being young but other than that, I’m pretty happy with my life in general and with my career.”

I asked Jane whether she makes a concerted effort to facilitate the success of other women in her workplace, industry, and community and if so, how so and I asked her for her advice for other women who want to do the same.

She says: “I get involved at the local school level. I go to elementary school, middle school, high school, and talk about the …

I asked Jane whether she had any regrets about being a working mother, what it was like for her and how she dealt with the challenges and conflicts particular to working mothers

She says: “No I don’t have any regrets. My children are very well-adjusted. They are 9 and 13. Actually, I have four children because I have two step-children as well, so I have a 9 year-old, two 13 year-olds, and a 17 year-old. Two of them are not living with me but it still means juggling and trying to prioritize. You need to make sure that you get involved. I’m home every night for dinner with them; I don’t miss dinners. When I have to travel occasionally to give speeches and that sort of thing, my children are perfectly fine staying with their dad. Their dad is a good person.

I asked Jane whether she had any advice for women who are working in male dominated environments.

Jane says: “I would say work your hardest and make sure you’re doing your homework coming into meetings. I’ve not run into it too often where there’s a male bias where they think that you’re not qualified or anything like that. I would say work your hardest and if you decide to have children, or even if you’re not having children, keep your professional and personal lives separate. A lot of times when people bring all their personal stuff into work it causes doubts in managers and they start second-guessing and wondering whether or not they’re going to be reliable. Something I’ve always done is I’ve carved out my personal life from my professional life. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be friendly. Definitely, in your professional life you can be friendly and have colleagues …